


Of School Teachers and Soldiers

by jazzinjuke



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gabriel's the teacher, Jack is Hana's father, Kindergarten!AU, Lots of Cute Stuff, M/M, Rating is for language in future chapters?? idk we'll see, everyone is happy and no one dies okay?, ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7893208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jazzinjuke/pseuds/jazzinjuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Morrison, single father to Hana Song, has to deal with sending his daughter off to school for the first time. But what is a man who looks more like a drill sergeant doing as a kindergarten teacher? When did he and said teacher get so close? And when did he become so involved with the PTA? But most importantly: what is he going to bring to the school's bakesale?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happens and everyone's happy, that's basically it :3 Multi-chapter so expect more!

Jack Morrison was not freaking out.

With a small hand clasped in his and a pink, glittery backpack decorated with cutesy bunny faces slung over his shoulder, he approached the door that would change the course of his life. He gripped the sparkly backpack's strap a little tighter, and he must have squeezed the hand in his as well, because he felt a weaker squeeze in response.

They stopped right outside the door.

"Well, this is it," he found himself saying, "You're sure you have the emergency contact list?"

"Yup! Dad, you had me check that I had it, like, five times before we left and you triple-checked yourself on the way here," chirped the small girl whose hand he was holding, practically bouncing with excitement, "Let's go in already! First day of school, first day of school!"

Without waiting any longer, she tugged him forward and opened the door. And no, his heart rate did _not_ spike as they crossed the threshold, and no, his hands did _not_ become inexplicably sweaty all of a sudden. He had made sure that he--that _she_ \--was prepared for this moment before they left their house this morning ( _"Backpack." "Check!" "Writing supplies and paper." "Check!" "Waterbottle." "Check!" "Shoes." "Check." "Now, you have the paper with all the emergency contacts? Just so you remember, it has the house number and my number and Ms. Kim's from across the street, and you know Dr. Ziegler, her number is listed too--"_ ) so there was no reason for him to be feeling anxious.

It was Hana's first day of kindergarten, and no, Jack Morrison was absolutely _not_ freaking out.

"Dad, you have your scary face on," Hana whispered up to him as they stepped inside.

Okay, maybe he was freaking out a little bit. His 'scary face' was the incredibly stern one he usually adopted when he was trying to keep a level head and hide his nervousness. He made a monumental effort to calm down and soften his expression.

Taking a quick glance around, he took stock of the classroom his daughter would be in: it was small but bright, with a colorful rug in the corner in front of a reading chair, a big calendar pinned on the wall with easy-to-read numbers and days, and there was a radio that must have been from before the turn of the century playing upbeat but quiet music that he couldn't quite make out over the rest of the noise. A few kids were already here, talking among themselves or hanging off their parents legs.

A man who had been talking with a few of those parents turned when he heard the door open and waved them in.

Jack paused for a moment, confused.

Confused because there was every indication that the man that waved to them was Hana's teacher--a casual but professional attire of slacks and a button up shirt and loose tie, talking with parents, an air of authority about him. But, Jack was confused because he couldn't be. He just couldn't.

Shaved head and scarred face, he had to at least be Jack's height, and just as brawny, built like a tank. He looked tough, and intimidating, and easily able to crush a man's skull, and there was no conceivable way that this man was a kindergarten teacher. Weren't kindergarten teachers supposed to be sweet, border-senile old ladies that reminded you of your grandmother? What was this man who looked more suited to be a drill sergeant doing in this class?

He didn't have time to dwell on this however, because it looked like the conversation he was having with the other parents had ended and he was headed toward him and his daughter. Jack straightened his shoulders by reflex and had to kick himself mentally when he found himself expecting the approaching man to order him to drop and give him twenty.

"Hello," the man said, holding out a hand, "I'm Mr. Reyes, welcome to my classroom."

Jack instinctively took the proffered hand--a firm handshake, crushing almost--and nodded.

"Morrison," he said shortly and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "Introduce yourself."

"Hi, I'm Hana! You're super tall!" she said brightly, thrusting out her hand as well; Mr. Reyes looked down at her with a small smile playing on his face and shook her hand, dwarfing hers entirely.

"Nice to meet you, Hana. Hana...Song, is it?" He checked a roster that was lying on the desk next to the door they had walked in, "I look forward to having you this year. If you'd like, you can pick a seat and meet some of your classmates before we start the day."

Okay, Jack would admit he was definitely 'freaking out' and that his heart was going into overdrive again as Hana turned to him and made grabby hands for her backpack. He hesitated in pulling it off his shoulder without trying to seem like he was dawdling.

"So, just to be sure," he asked Mr. Reyes, who was somehow Hana's new teaher--her new, buff, and militant-looking teacher, "I'm picking her up at 1:15?"

He ignored his daughter as she now tugged insistently on the bottom of his shirt.

"Yes," the teacher nodded, amusement in his eyes though his mouth remained mostly firm, "We'll bring the kids out to the gate so you can wait for her there. She'll be bringing home papers and flyers and a newsletter from me explaining how the first week will go, including Open House where I'll get to meet parents individually and talk."

He was glad for the extra information and that at least there was some organization to this whole thing. Organization was good. Organization was familiar. It helped ease some of his nerves, but Hana was still tugging on his shirt and now whining, so he couldn't ignore her any longer. He kneeled so that he was eye-level with her and gave her a last minute once over, smoothing out her dress and hair.

He took a deep, steadying breath.

"Okay Hana, make sure to behave today, but remember to have fun as well," he allowed himself a smile for her as he patted her cheek, "I'll be here at 1:15 sharp, and then we're going to the community center, remember?"

She gave a mock salute, her attempt at a stern face ruined by the dazzling grin she wore.

"Yessir!" she threw her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek, "Now, go, go, I can't start making friends until you go away, Dad, you'll scare them off."

She pushed with all her might against his chest (he didn't even budge) before she dashed to where the most kids were and immediately dived into the chatter, happy grin all the way. He stood slowly and realized Mr. Reyes was watching him with the closest thing to a smile he had seen on the man yet.

"She the first kid of yours you've seen off to school?" he guessed.

Jack nodded and that almost-smile stretched into a definite-grin.

"Yup, I figured. I've seen enough parents in my years teaching to know which kids are the first children. Usually by the second, they know the drill a bit more and can relax," he gave a small laugh, "Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Morrison. I'll see you back here after one."

He nodded again and said good day and took one last, long look at Hana before walking out the door.

* * *

 

The first day of school was always hectic. New kids, new parents, new problems, and less than a year to sort it all out before it started all over again.

Over the years, Gabriel had made a little game with himself to figure out which children or parents would be the biggest thorns in his side--because when you're a teacher, especially of younger age groups, it wasn't just the students that were problems, but their parents. This year's batch didn't seem too horrendous (but he didn't want to say for certain yet: you could never tell when all hell would break loose), only a couple parents that were on the snooty side, a handful that were showing signs of the 'going-to-live-vicariously-through-their-children' frame of mind. There was one that gave him a mild surprise however.

Morrison, that was his name. Tall and broad-shouldered, short golden hair with the barest streaks of silver beginning to show around the temples, the guy screamed 'military' with his disciplined posture and hardened face. Yeah, Gabriel knew army men when he saw them, and Mr. Morrison was definitely one of them. Stereotypical mean, scary, tough as nails kind of guy, or so he had thought.

Hana Song, easily the strongest personality of the his students this year, was a bubbly young girl that had quickly made herself the star of the classroom, the center of everyone's attention. During the break the kids got on the playground, he observed her soaking up the compliments from the other little girls in his class--how cute her dress was, how pretty her hair was done, how her nails looked perfect.

"Thanks!" he overheard her across the way, "My dad painted them last night!"

_Huh._

Gabriel was left with the image of that gruff man in worn down jeans and T-shirt from this morning daintily holding a nail polish bottle and brush while his daughter gossiped about whatever five-year-olds gossip about. He almost laughed, but instead he looked at his watch and blew the whistle to signal that break was over. Later, when he was handing out the papers for the kids to take home for his parents, he paused a little longer over Hana's desk, trying to seperate the papers and took a glance at her nails: sparkly pink with delicately painted white tips. Almost professional.

_So, big man can paint nails like he works in a salon. Well, good on him._

It was cute to think about it, though, and he wondered if Morrison was also responsible for Hana's hair brushed shiny with two braids on the side of her head leading into the little ponytail bouncing on her head. He found that he wouldn't really be surprised if Morrison was. _Morrison_.

He glanced back over to Hana. _Song_.

There was explanation there and for a moment he let his mind wander over possibilities that led to them having different last names as he led the kids out to the gate, all buzzing with chatter about their first day and eager to get to their mothers and fathers to tell them all about it. Maybe it was his spouse's name and they had gone with that, maybe there was no spouse in the picture and he had adopted her. Shaking his head, he smirked--heaven help him if he was single and the mothers at this school found out he could paint nails. Women seemed to have a soft spot for single fathers for some reason, doubly so if they could do things that were considered 'feminine'. It didn't hurt that he wasn't too bad on the eyes either, but he chose not to dwell too long on that.

And there he was, walking up to the gate at 1:15 on the dot.

Hana immediately shrieked in delight and began waving frantically at him to get his attention as if she wasn't the only thing he was focused on. So focused in fact that he didn't notice more than one of the mothers gathered around discreetly trying to look at his behind and quickly averting their eyes with blushes as he stepped up. Gabriel almost snorted.

But instead, he gave Hana the all-clear to run up to her dad, which she did so without hesitation and he scooped her up.

"Ewww, Daddy, you're all gross and sweaty," the girl complained as he pecked her cheek.

"Sorry, bunny, I only had time to go home and change, no shower," he said, hoisting her up effortlessly under the armpits until she sat on his shoulders; it was true. The tall man was now wearing a flannel shirt that looked just as worn as the tee he wore earlier, a couple buttons on the top left undone--probably, Mr. Reyes noticed with no small interest, because the shirt was strained around his rib cage even in its unbuttoned state--to show a white undershirt beneath. His hair looked slightly damp and there was a sheen on his forehead as well. And suddenly, he was looking at Gabriel.

"Thank you for taking care of her," he said stiffly; _right, army man_ , Reyes had to remind himself. It was almost like seeing a completely different person than the one he was in front of his daughter.

"Of course," he replied, letting kids go one by one to the parents he recognized, "See you tomorrow, Hana. And you, Mr. Morrison, Open House is tomorrow, don't forget."

A curt nod and the two were off, Hana's high-pitched voice fading as she jabbered away a mile a minute, telling Mr. Morrison about her day.

And maybe, _just maybe_ , Gabriel allowed himself the briefest of moments to see what the mothers had been not-so-subtly checking out.

_Hm. Not bad at all._

* * *

 

"...And then at break I got to meet everyone else from the other classes! A lotta them liked my nails, and there was a boy--Lúcio!--and he said he's in gymnastics and did a flip for us, but then some of the teachers told him not to do that anymore, but I wonder how much he can do. It must be so cool to do it, I wanna learn! But why did the teachers not let him flip?"

Hana had been gushing about her day non-stop ever since they had gotten home from the community center. Since she was starting kindergarten, Jack figured it was a good time to enroll her in Korean classes as well. Mrs. Kim from across the street had been nice enough to help Hana learn to speak basic Korean ever since he had moved out here to the small town in California, but reading and writing was another matter entirely. The local CC was offering a class for beginners, and when he had found out about it, he had signed both him and his daughter up in a heart beat.

Now they were getting Hana ready for bed, the little girl hardly stopping her recount even as she was brushing her teeth and Jack undid her dark hair to let it hang loosely.

"It's for safety, bunny," Jack said, combing through her locks gently as she spit into the sink, "He could have kicked someone if they were standing to close and hurt them, or he could have fallen and hurt himself. Pavement hurts if you take a spill."

"Oh," her eyebrows furrowed together, trying to puzzle through something, "I guess that makes sense. But, what if you're, like, super careful? He made the flip perfectly!"

"There's always going to be someone who isn't careful, and everyone makes mistakes sometimes," he explained patiently, "That's why everyone has to play by the rules, so everyone is safe."

"But, it seemed like so much fun."

"Safety first."

"Hmph!"

She didn't look completely satisfied but relented and went to get into her PJ's while Jack shambled into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of decaf coffee, like every night. On a normal day, he would drink an entire regular pot in the morning and switch to decaf in the evening, no he didn't have a coffee problem, thank you very much. He took a couple sips and absentmindedly rubbed Bastion's head who had gotten up when he had entered the room. The massive Tibetan Mastiff leaned heavily against his leg and he could feel a bit of his drool seep through his sock. _Gross_.

After a few moments, he set down his mug and made his way to Hana's bedroom, Bastion trailing behind him, like every night. And like every night, Hana was already sitting on her bed, shimmying down further in her blankets when Jack came in. He pulled up the covers more securely anyway as she squirmed and settled down.

"I'm glad you had a good first day," he murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, "Get some sleep so you can have a second day that's just as much fun."

She giggled as Bastion's wet nose tickled her face; they said a short prayer together, Jack switched off the light, and left.

"Nighty night, Dad."

"Night, bunny."

He fetched his coffee from the kitchen and settled himself into bed while Bastion flopped down on the floor in his room. Like every night, he stayed up reading until 11:30, and when he finally rolled over and flipped the bedside table lamp off and set his mug in a small pile of other mugs collecting on the table, it took him a long time to fall asleep, listening to the dog's heavy breaths and occasional sighs in his sleep.

And like every night, just before he was about to drop off, his door creeped open and a small body wiggled its way under the sheets with him, curling up against his back, clutching her favorite rabbit plushie. He sighed and rolled over and Hana snuggled closer. He always fell asleep quickly after that

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dad's nickname for me when I was super young was 'bunny' cos we had these cute fluffy towels with these semi-hoods that had bunny ears on them. Long story short, that is totally what Jack calls Hana now.  
> Anywho. Stick around!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, thank you so much for all the positive feedback on the first chapter! Idk if I'll always update this quickly, but I kinda have a policy on updating my new fics with the second chapter soon after so people have more substance to decide if they like it or not? Idk, but here we are :3  
> come find me on tumblr at jazzjnkr *winky face*

Jack didn't quite know how he ended up here.

The day had started off simple enough. At the Open House, Mr. Reyes had asked for volunteer parent assistants. They wouldn't have to do much, just lend a hand on days when they had arts and crafts or such. Not having any reason not to, Jack put forth his name. He had never done anything like it, but it seemed like the kind of thing parents were expected to do, and so he would give it a shot.

The first week had rolled by smoothly, much to his relief. He had been quick to develop a schedule for the both him and Hana that he stuck adamantly to, he didn't feel so anxious when he dropped her off now, and Hana was now enrolled in the daycare program that she would go to on days when his work kept him from picking her up. The daycare teacher, a gentle giant of a man named Reinhardt Wilhelm, was a jolly person who Jack felt assured in leaving Hana in his care despite his initial misgivings.

The second week came and his first day as a parent assistant arrived. It was fairly easy: the kids were making animals of colorful paper with their names to hang around the classroom, and Jack's job was simply to help children with gluing the parts they needed. Mr. Reyes had apparently had one too many accidents with glue in the past that he didn't trust his students with it anymore. Period.

An awkward introduction to Hana's classmates later, Jack was settled in a chair that was outrageously too small for him and wielding the glue stick with determination as child after child came to him for help. It was a little alarming to work with the kids; many of them had next to no reservations about talking with him, and about the most random things too. _("My favorite color's blue." "I'm going to the park after school!" "I can hold my breath for ten seconds, wanna see?" "Are you sixty? My grandpa is sixty and he has silver hair like you.")_

And he thought Hana was blunt.

But no, dealing with the kindergartners wasn't the odd part.

No, it began when he stepped into the hallway to let the paper animals dry. He had noticed the hand washing station for the children while he worked in the hall--the facet had a small leak. Trying his best to ignore the small _dri-drips_ plinking into the sink, he continued to line up the animals while Mr. Reyes directed the children to a new activity. He had to admit, after seeing firsthand the strict man work, that he was good with kids and it showed that he had been in the game for a while. Hana caught his eye through the window that looked into the class and waved at him enthusiastically, halfway out of her seat--he responded by pointing to her teacher sternly, telling her silently to pay attention. Mr. Reyes must have agreed with him and called her out, because she started and turned sheepishly to the teacher, settling back in her seat.

As he continued to assemble the sticky paper along the counter, the sink taunted him, quiet, yet insistent enough that it was hard to ignore. But, it's not like he had his tools with him to fix it---wait. What was his extra wrench doing in his pocket? And--shoot, he left a screwdriver in his back pocket as well? How had he not noticed those sitting there?

Emptying his pockets, he became increasingly bewildered to find a small treasure of tools and bits: one or two washers, his well-worn army knife, a few sticks of gum, (some crinkled empty gum wrappers), 42 cents, and a torn and hole-filled handkerchief.

 _I know I can be absent minded and forget things in my pockets, but this is ridiculous_ , he thought as he dug out a lighter to toss onto the pile. When had he even acquired a lighter? He didn't smoke.

But, it was enough to fix the leak, he noted. After carefully arranging the arts and crafts in neat lines, he turned his attention to the sink, seeing as he had no further instruction from Mr. Reyes. It was short work, and he was just putting the handles back in place when a woman passed by, papers bursting in arms.

"Oh, did you finally fix that leak?" she asked briskly, "Thank you so much, that's been bugging me all summer. Since you're here, would you mind fixing the boys' bathroom sinks? Two of them aren't working."

Before he could explain that wait, no, he wasn't a janitor, she trotted off to deliver her papers and left him alone in the hallway, the muffled sounds of the surrounding classrooms his only company.

_Well, shit._

Jack heaved a sigh and figured that he might as well take a look at the sinks to see what he could do. If not, he would go find the _actual_ janitors. And so it went. Barely had he fixed the boys' sinks than a teacher's aide came in with a group of students and spotted him.

"Cool, they sent someone to repair the sinks! Hey, while your in this wing, can you fix a couple of hallway cabinets? Somma the kids sat on the doors and broke them."

This went on and on and now, here he was in the middle of the hallway, replacing a light bulb that had been flickering when he heard someone clear their throat. Arms still raised, he looked down from the table he was standing on. Mr. Reyes stood before him, looking up, one eyebrow quirked.

"Mr. Morrison, didn't know where you wandered off to."

"Uhhh..." he was lost for words for a moment, "Sorry, I got dragged into doing a few repairs."

"I see," Reyes' other eyebrow joined its arched twin and his mouth tweaked into that maybe-smile Jack had seen when he first met him, "Well, thank you for your help, but it's time to send the kids home."

Jack gave the clock on the wall a blank stare. 1:15.

"Oh," he said, "Right."

"It's a good thing I only needed some help with the animal project," Mr. Reyes said as Jack screwed in the new light bulb as quickly as he could and replaced the cover before scrambling down from the table, "Otherwise I think I might be inclined to never have you as a parent assistant again."

"Oh," Jack said, again feeling thoroughly foolish and hiding it by straightening his shoulders, "Right. Sorry."

Reyes stared at him before turning away and strolling to his classroom, a definite-smile on his lips and in his dark eyes.

"I'm kidding, Morrison."

Jack blinked and took long strides to catch up before evening out his pace to walk besides him. He saw Reyes side-eyeing him with a subtle smirk before he faced forward.

"Oh. Right."

* * *

 

Gabriel didn't quite know how he ended up here.

He supposed it was inevitable, but he had always been secretly hoping that his son might take after his less-than-socially-amiable tendencies and as such, Gabriel might be spared. It was not to be.

He loved his son very much--hard not to when his little one was damn near sunshine incarnate and he had quickly made friends upon entering his school career with his bright and bubbly personality. And so, he knew his love would be put to trial when the thing he had been dreading, the inevitable, came up:

Playdates.

He was glad that Lúcio had had no problems making fast friends, truly he was, but with that territory came the awkward moment when two parents were forced to stick around each other and supervise their respective kids. Make awkward small talk. Pretend to be politely interested in the other parent's life. Maybe make half-assed attempts at making future plans, but in reality they would have no contact outside of when their children dragged them together in one big happy cocktail of awkward while they played obliviously. _Ugh_.

But, with his love for his son and something about young children getting properly socialization being key to their development that he vaguely remembered from a college Introduction to Sociology class ringing in the back of his head, he gritted his teeth and smiled and nodded when his son asked if he and some of his new friends could play some time.

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised when the first one his son wanted to have a playdate with was Hana Song. Even though the two of them were in separate classes (at his request: he hadn't wanted to play favorites, and when it came to Lúcio, it was all too easy to play favorites), he had noticed the two were quickly becoming good friends. Both were bright, happy, and energetic personalities, almost to the point of exhaustion. Well, if he could get one thing out of this playdate, maybe the kids' energy could cancel the other out and they would tire themselves without him having to lift a finger. Maybe even he could _finally_ get Lúcio to lay down for his afternoon nap.

Whatever his hopes and expectations for this playdate, here he sat on a park bench now with Mr. Morrison, Jack as he had finally learned his first name was, and it was _just_ as painfully awkward as he had been dreading as they sat in silence and observed their kids chase each other around a local playground.

_Well, shit._

At least that giant beast of a dog that Morrison had brought along was cool. It was on a leash, and Gabriel suspected that anyone else might not be able to control it if it ran wild, but Morrison held a confidence that spoke of his ability to handle the animal.

He took a fortifying breath.

_Be strong, Reyes. Be strong for Lúcio._

"So, what is it you do?" he began, and _oh god, just kill him now, he hated small talk with all his soul._

"I'm a handyworker, I suppose," Jack grunted, eyes like a hawk on his daughter, the expression mirrored by his pet fluff monster, "Do a bit of everything: maintenance, plumbing, construction, and the like."

Okay, not too bad, but it's still small talk and this is the worst.

"Did the school hire you and I didn't know about it, then?" he joked lightly; he figured he might as well be the one to break the ice since Morrison was being as helpful as a brick wall in terms of friendly conversation. But, he was pleasantly surprised when the man huffed out a laugh and finally seemed to relax.

"No, that was an accident. I think people mistook me as a janitor and kept asking me to fix small things."

"And you just so happen to carry tools with you?" he asked with quiet mirth.

"Apparently I do," he chuckled, getting more comfortable and resting one ankle over the other knee while his dog-bear hybrid settled against his leg, "How about you, how long have you been teaching?"

"Hm," Gabriel took a moment to think about that, "This will be five years, I think. I'm due to get tenure anyway, and it's about damn time if you ask me."

They sat in silence for a moment, but it wasn't as awkward as before which Gabriel was thankful for.

"So, Hana tells me she's taking Korean classes," he commented errantly.

"Yeah," Morrison said, "I thought it would be best to start young, when she's still learning English as well."

"Interesting," -- _Jesus Christ, Gabriel, that was the blandest fucking response possible, you can do better than that_ \--"Is her mother Korean?"

Mr. Morrison stiffened beside him.

"No."

And that was all he said.

The silence plummeted straight back to awkward and Gabriel was thinking that now would be a lovely time to die--and just when he thought he would be able to get through this playdate relatively painlessly too--when both of their heads snapped over to where a cry rang out: Lúcio had fallen on the pavement. Jack was ready to go and check on him, but Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder to make him sit back down and called to his son, who looked up at him with big teary eyes. He patted his knee and the boy hesitantly got up and shuffled over to him, sniffling, with Hana trailing nervously behind.

"Did you trip, _meu anjinho?_ " he asked calmly, "Here, let's see the damage."

He held out his hand that was scraped and slightly bloody and Gabriel took it in his gently and clucked his tongue.

"Well, good news--we won't have to cut off your arm," he said, and startled a watery laugh out of his son, "It's not so bad, look, it's very shallow. Let's run some water over it though and clean it up. Then you can get back to playing once it stops bleeding."

He guided Lúcio to the side of the bench and pulled a water bottle from his bag so he could pour it over the injured hand and into the grass while Hana crawled into her father's lap.

"Are you ok?" she asked, as their dog licked at her exposed knees.

"Yeah, it was just a little fall," Lúcio sniffed, but his his bright smile was already recovering, even though he winced when the water stung his hands. He let the two kids carry the conversation, easily chatting about everything and nothing at all, while Gabriel washed away the blood and Jack fished out a plastic bag of apple slices cut to look like little rabbits out of his own bag and gave them to Hana to munch on. Wow, those were adorable, and he was left wondering yet again if Morrison was responsible for them.

Before long, their children were back on their feet, leaving the men by themselves again and another strained silence.

Gabriel bit out a sigh and resisted the urge to pull his beanie over his face in frustration. One more try, and then he would resign himself to sitting in excruciatingly uncomfortable quiet for the rest of the time if Jack didn't take.

"I'm trying to teach Lúcio other languages as well," he said, "Mostly Portuguese for now, since his mother was from Brazil and wanted him to speak it, but I've been trying to incorporate Spanish as well recently."

That seemed to do the trick. Mr. Morrison relaxed once again and looked to him.

"His mother?" he inquired.

"Yes, my wife. We met in Spain while I was there and she was studying abroad, and got married after that. She passed on soon after he was born," he looked off thoughtfully past the children, past the trees that lined the park, "What about Hana, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Ah, well, I suppose it's a similar story to you and your wife," Jack started quietly, "Except it wasn't mine. My sister went to South Korea for school and she met her husband there. Moved back to the states and had a beautiful baby girl. Hana's technically my niece, but, well...my sister and him got into a car accident. Fatal, sadly, and left me as the godfather."

"Well," Mr. Reyes sat up straighter after a moment and cleared his throat, "At least we have hyperactive balls of sunshine to keep us on our toes."

The first smile he had seen of Jack that wasn't directed at Hana graced his lips for a moment.

"True."

By the time they were all ready to go home, the fathers had actual plans to meet up again, and Gabriel really intended to keep them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to glimmerFae (verfens), holy cow bro, when I saw that you left Kudos, I almost screamed? Huge fan of your Our Old Bones Rattle and that whole series, I should probably shut up now otherwise I'll just end up screaming nonstop about cool peeps with awesome stories that noticed my lil story here.  
> Anywho. Stick around :3c


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some lil looks into the boys' (and Hana's) morning routines and some more shenanigans :3c

Like most mornings, Jack woke up to a crushing weight on his chest and a face full of fur. Wheezing, he wrestled Bastion off of him until he could finally breathe and took several gulps of the cool fresh morning air, accompanied by several sloppy morning kisses from the giant dog that had climbed onto the bed at some point and thought Jack would make an excellent pillow. Like usual.

"Buddy, you have got to stop waking me up like this," he groaned to the dog, who simply cocked its head innocently and thumped his heavy tail against the bed.

He blinked at the ceiling washed dove-grey in the early morning sun, letting his eyes adjust before they fell to Hana. The lump under the blankets next to him mumbled something incoherent and shifted around some. He could tell when she woke up though, because she went completely still and a suppressed giggle escaped the covers.

"Whatever could this mysterious lump be?" Jack wondered out loud in mock confusion, "I'm sure it wasn't here last night when I got into bed. Maybe it's an extra pillow."

Another giggle, even more poorly concealed. Jack glanced at the digital clock on his bedstand: _6:30 am._ Just like every day.

"And it looks too small to be Bastion..." he continued, feeling around where he assumed Hana's head was--even more giggling as she kicked out a small foot that hit him right in the stomach, but it was hardly powerful enough to hurt. Without warning, he yanked the covers off and pounced on his daughter as she exploded with shrieking laughs and he exclaimed, "There's a wild rabbit in my bed!"

They tussled until Jack deemed himself sufficiently beat, Hana on his back with her tiny arms wrapped around his neck in a weak chokehold and 'pinning' him.

"Oh no, I am defeated," he said sarcastically, but then actually let out a strained huff when Bastion flopped down on top of his back, joining the young girl.

"I win!" she proclaimed, "Since I'mma winner, can I choose breakfast?"

"No," he shot her down immediately, "Because I know what you're going to choose, and a bag of chips and five doughnuts is not breakfast."

"Aww, but Dad, I won!"

He rolled over onto his back, dislodging Bastion and smushing Hana beneath him. She let out of muffled yelp and tried to wiggle out from underneath him, protesting loudly under his weight, and he finally laughed.

"Huh, I wonder where Hana went?"

"I'm right here, _Dad_."

After letting her struggle a while longer, he carefully sat up and onto the edge of the bed.

"Ah, there she is!" he said with exaggerated surprise, "Come on, Hana, time to get up. Get out of your PJ's, brush your teeth, we'll have breakfast, and then take Bastion on a walk before I drop you off at school."

Chirping a 'yessir!', Hana scrambled from the bed to race to her room and get ready for the day. He sat there for a moment, staring out at the pale morning light that was rising over the trees in the backyard. Finally, he shook himself and leaned down to heft all 161 pounds of Bastion over his shoulder to carry him downstairs. He would never know what on earth possessed his sister to get a Tibetan Mastiff when she and her husband moved to this house. They weren't a breed known for being good around young kids, but she had gone and done it anyway. Fortunately, she had trained him well since he was a puppy and Bastion had turned out to be very gentle with the young Hana. The only problem he had was going downstairs. Upstairs? The dog had no problems. But Jack had been carrying him down ever since he had taken over ownership of the house and he was too used to it to be bothered now.

He let Bastion out into the backyard, (got his coffee going, he didn't feel human until he had his coffee), and started on breakfast for him and his daughter. It wasn't long before Hana was bounding down the stairs, favorite pink rabbit plush under her arm. She lovingly placed it in the third chair at the dining table atop a pile of phonebooks that were already there and took her own seat to wait patiently for the food. After they had eaten and Jack threw on some day clothes, he fetched Bastion's leash and they headed out.

"Daddy, make sure to bring your phone! I wanna catch lotsa Pokémon on our way!"

Jack took his phone and another coffee with him for their walk, taking a new route like every morning, (Hana squealed in delight with each Pokémon she caught, and managed to defeat at least three gyms on the way), and by the time they got back home for Hana to properly get ready for school, Jack actually felt like he could function enough to help her with her hair. Drop Hana off, say a quick hello to Mr. Reyes, and shuffle back home.

He had a rare free day, and he was glad because it allowed him to do what he did with most of his precious spare time. Hardly stopping in his trek from the front door to shed his light jacket, he fell onto the couch and was out before he could so much as think to set an alarm.

* * *

 

Like most mornings, Gabriel woke up yelling when something landed heavily on his lower back.

"Wake up, _papai_ , wake up!"

He heaved out a groan and turned onto his side, not prepared to deal with Lúcio's energy this early in the morning. The little rascal consistently woke up before sunrise--with no assistance he might add--and if Lúcio was up, well, his father had to be up too. He tried to ignore the persistent boy and shoved his face into the silky pillow and attempted to fall back into his dreams. But, he finally had to give up on the prospect of more sleep when his son's coaxing and shoulder shaking did not desist. Sitting up, he stretched and yawned wide while Lúcio bounced up and down on the bed.

"Alright, already," he mumbled, hand coming down on top of the boy's head and mussin it up, "I'm awake, you little devil."

"Good, because _avó_ is calling soon!"

As if it had been waiting for those words, the phone on Gabriel's bed side table rang shrilly _and why did he keep a landline phone still, they were so outdated_ but he reached over lethargically and picked it up, settling against the headboard as Lúcio wiggled up to his side and curled there before he pressed the call.

" _Alo_ ," he said shortly before pressing the speakerphone and preparing for what was to come.

" _Gabriel, good morning!_ " a loud voice called out in Portuguese, " _How are you today? I hope I didn't wake you?_ "

" _No, I was up already_ ," he yawned and stretched again and his son giggled; his mother-in-law often forgot about the time difference between California and Brazil, and many times if he wasn't woken by his little ball of energy, he woke to the phone ringing because she called everyday. He let his arm fall around the boy's shoulders as he put it back down.

" _Is that Lúcio I hear?_ " she asked, " _How are you, little man? Are you liking school?_ "

" _Yes, granma! I have a lot of new friends, and my teacher is very nice, but I wish I was in daddy's class._ "

They sat for a while like that before Gabriel threw his legs over the side of the bed and decided to begin the next part of their morning ritual. Lúcio followed after him to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, his father carrying the phone with them and setting it on the counter so they could still talk with his grandmother and get ready for the day. He helped Lúcio first with moisturizing his hair, running his fingers gently through the thick curls, before moving onto his own shortly-cropped hair. He carefully shaved and trimmed his beard while his son chattered away, telling _avó_ about school, about how Ché and Mano were doing, thank you for the bright green froggie plushie she sent for his birthday, he named it Paulo, about how no, _papai_ hasn't found any nice young women yet.

Gabriel decided to end the call (after many false ends because _avó_ would say goodbye and then remember something else she wanted to say) when they both needed to brush their teeth and eat breakfast.

" _Okay, but make sure to call me again when you get off work, Gabri. Kisses!"_

They finished getting ready for the day and since they had some extra time before they had to leave, Gabriel let his son watch an episode of Dora the Explorer while he went over plans he had for his class. Lúcio took care of his pet frogs ("Don't forget to feed Ché and Mano." "I would never forget! They're my babies.") then it was off to school, where Gabriel would drop the young boy off at the morning daycare and he went to prepare for the day. They walked ("Daddy, bring your phone, I wanna hatch some more Pokemon! I want it to be the tadpole spiral tummy one this time.") because they lived close enough. It was a beautiful morning, and he was in a good enough mood to pick Lúcio up and settle him on his shoulders, to the kid's absolute pleasure while he caught Pokémon on his father's phone.

* * *

 

Jack woke up with a start when a knock at the door sounded through the house. He had to gather his bearings for a moment after opening his eyes--he was in the living room; his shoes were still on; his arm was asleep; he had drooled on the couch pillow. Quickly wiping the trail of saliva from his chin and doing his best to wipe it from the cushion as well, he stood and rushed to answer the door, peeking through the keyhole: Mrs. Kim.

He opened the door, trying to not to look like he had just woken up. Her sharp appraisal of him and greeting told him he failed.

"You are quite a mess, Jackie."

"Sorry, Mrs. Kim," he grumbled, rubbing some sleep from his eye, "I was taking a nap. Anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, yes," she held a bag out to him, "I brought _dosirak_ for you and Hana. You're picking her up soon, yes?"

White hot panic flashed through him.

"What time is it?!" he fumbled for his phone for the time, nearly dropping it several times-- _1:02 pm_ , " _Shi_ \--oot! Shoot. I have to go."

"Mmhm," Mrs. Kim nodded shortly, "What I thought."

"Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Kim, is there anyway I can repay you?" he asked, frantically grabbing for his keys and wallet while she helped herself inside to put the lunches in the fridge and then waited patiently by the door, watching impassively.

"My kitchen sink is running," she said.

"Yes, I can take a look at it tonight," he rushed out the door and locked it up after she followed.

"And my daughter is in town this weekend," she went on, not so subtlety.

"Maybe some other time, I have--things. Going on. This week. Sorry," he finished lamely, hurrying away as quickly as he could from this conversation.

"That's what you always say, Jackie!" she called accusingly after him and his only response was a strangled noise that was supposed to be noncommittal , but sounded more distressed than anything as he fled down the street.

He made it to the school just as the children were being herded out to the gate, only slightly out of breath when he greeted Mr. Reyes.

"Oh, Reyes," he said, when Hana had reached his side, making an on-the-spot decision, "How does a playdate with Hana and Lúcio this weekend sound?"

Rather than the kindergarten teacher responding, both of the children cried out in excitement and Lúcio was instantly begging his dad to say yes.

"Uh, sure, fine by me."

"Great. We can work out the details later." _Because he didn't know exactly when Mrs. Kim's daughter would be in town yet_ , "Talk to you soon."

"Tomorrow then," he nodded.

* * *

 

At the first knock on Saturday morning, Hana was screaming 'They're here!' and Bastion was howling as they raced each other to the door. Jack was _pretty_ sure she would have run face-first into the door had he not caught her (unlike Bastion, who he did _not_ catch, and did). However, she quickly squiggled out of his arms and threw open the door to reveal Mr. Reyes and his son.

" _Wrrp_!" Jack whistled sharply at Bastion, who looked ready to go into full territorial mode, "Sit, boy."

The dog parked his rear obediently, and only then did he turn to his guests.

"Welcome to our home," he said formally, "Please come in."

"C'mon, I wanna show you my room!" Hana said as soon as the father and son had their shoes off, grabbed Lúcio and rocketed upstairs.

Jack was about to show Mr. Reyes to the living room, when another knock came from the door. He mumbled a quick 'Excuse me' to Hana's teacher and opened it to reveal Mrs. Kim and her daughter, Elizabeth, on his doorstep.

"Hello, Jackie!" the elder woman said brightly, "Me and my daughter made lunch for you and Hana."

Jack didn't miss the emphasis on 'daughter'. He nodded stiffly in acknowledgment to the younger Kim anyway, who smiled back, amused.

"You're too kind as always. Lizzy, nice to see you."

"You too, Jack."

"But, Jackie," Mrs. Kim cut across them, "Elizabeth here just graduated veterinarian school, you know. We're going out to celebrate tonight. You and Hana should join, since you're practically family!"

"Congratulations, but, ah, sorry, Hana's teacher and his son Lúcio are over today, and Lúcio is also spending the night," he panicked and Reyes shot him a surprised look, but Jack's own face must have been so agitated that he didn't contradict this. But, it seemed to do the trick, distracting Mrs. King.

"Awww, Hana's first sleepover!" she cooed, "Make sure you take pictures to commemorate it, lots of pictures!"

"Will do," he gave a polite smile and waved her away; however, Elizabeth lingered for just a moment longer.

"Sorry about her," she offered with a small smile, "Trust me, it's just as painful for me when she tries to push us together. She doesn't know I'm gay either."

With a wink, she turned on her heel and followed after her mother before Jack could respond. He closed the door, stunned to silence, before Gabriel surprised him by bursting out laughing.

"Is _that_ why you planned this? To get out of a set-up date?" he crowed when he was able to get his laughter under control, although a few chuckles escaped him still.

Looked like he was caught. Sighing, he turned and walked to the kitchen to put the orderly packed lunch boxes away and rubbed his forehead that had been growing steadily these past three years. Darn receding hair line.

"She's been trying to get me and her daughter, who is apparently only interested in other women, together for two years now. I would feel bad outright saying no because she's done so much for Hana ever since I moved here," he explained, "Sorry for dragging you in, but I told her I had plans this week and...I don't like...lying to her..."

He trailed off in his mumble and Mr. Reyes laughed some more.

"You could have just said so," he laughed and slapped Jack's shoulder firmly, "I have plenty experience with mothers trying to push you off to the first person they deem nice enough."

"Guess I'll keep that in mind next time," he managed a small grin, "But, even though it was spur of the moment, Lúcio is welcome to stay here for the night. You are welcome to dinner as well, Mr. Reyes. It's the least I could do to make up for this mess I've made."

He looked surprised at the offer, but then shrugged.

"If you don't mind. He wakes up before dawn, mind you. Always. And I'll need to get some of his things from home. But please, call me Gabriel."

He nodded.

"Gabriel. Call me Jack."

"Well," the teacher straightened up, "I suppose I need to make a quick trip back home. One question before I leave though: was she right?"

"Sorry?" Jack asked, brow wrinkled and confused, "Was who right about what?"

"Are you gay?"

He was taken aback by the blunt question; he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Bi, actually."

"Cool, man," he slapped his shoulder again in a companionable way, "Me, too. I'll be back in a few."

He left Jack in a stunned silence for the second time as he showed himself out and swept through the door.

Jack looked out the kitchen window--there were some birds fluttering happily around the feeder.  
He looked at the neatly prepared lunchboxes still in his hands--he needed to put them in the fridge.  
He looked at Bastion--the dog tilted his head curiously at him.  
He looked to the hallway where Gabriel had disappeared.

His brain finally processed the new information that had been brought to light.

"Well," he said to the empty kitchen, "Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huehuehue >:3 It begins  
> Hana is totes Team Valor and Lúcio is def Team Instinct ok bye  
> Anyway, I had a pink unicorn plushie when I was young, and in fact I think it's still at my parents' house to this day. Named her Valentine cos she had a collar with hearts on it. I'm curious: what were some of your guys' stuffed animals and their names?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are all so cute with ur stuffed animals last chapter ❤ Anyway  
> Gay dads ahoy ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

"No, Dad, you need to wear the blue one. No! The grey! Wear the grey!"

Jack could not believe that this was happening. The past month and a half seemed to have gone by in a blur: school, work, meeting other parents, somehow ending up in the PTA. He still wasn't exactly sure how that last one had happened; maybe it was Back to School night, he reflects. Some teacher had kindly asked parents to join the Association and when she had gotten to him, he had panicked and said yes.

And now this: Hana sprawled on the end of his bed while he chose his outfit and made suggestions for what he would wear that night. Because Jack Morrison was going on a date.

No, he _wasn't_ , he firmly reminded himself, grimacing as he reached for any shirt not what Hana had advised, because it didn't matter. It was not a date. It was a simple matter of going out for a couple of drinks with Mr. Reyes-- _Gabriel_ \--and it most certainly wasn't a date.

It didn't matter that when the other man had asked him to get drinks, it almost sounded like it was to be a date. It had been after Jack's second PTA meeting, just at the beginning of that week, and it had gone...interestingly, to say the least. The short story was, one of the mothers had complained about Gabriel teaching his kids cursive in addition to the regular alphabet, spouting some such nonsense that it was too high level for kindergartners, and even useless in this day and age, and somehow ended with Jack getting up in arms to defend Hana's teacher until it culminated with a rather vicious _'Fight me, Helen!'_ after the woman had made several nasty and unnecessary jabs. Afterwards, Gabriel had pulled him aside--cornered him more like it, he thought wildly--and asked if he would like to go out. _'_ _To get drinks sometime,'_ he had quickly added, chortling still from the meeting where he had barely contained his laughter, _'Goddamn, I owe you for that! Usually no one takes my side in these shitty meetings, **god** , her face when you shut her down like that!'_

He had panicked, once again, and said yes.

He couldn't deny that he enjoyed Gabriel's company. They had become something of friends over the time they had known each other, short as it was. The fathers and their children could often be seen at the other's house, Jack thought it was testament to how often when Bastion finally relaxed around the father and son duo when they came over now. It wasn't just because of their children though. Maybe they were what started it, but he and the man had a quiet understanding, a sort of camaraderie that came from being in similar situations. Neither of them really spoke about it, because neither of them were the kinds to wear their hearts on their sleeves, but it was there even if it went unspoken. He also couldn't deny that he found Gabriel attractive--he was a handsome man and maybe it came from his time in the military, but he had a bit of a thing for muscles and _holy shit_ if the teacher didn't fit that bill, he didn't know what did. Maybe Reinhardt, but Reinhardt was seven feet tall so.

But, he digressed. This _wasn't_ a date. Even if he wasn't completely unprepared to so much as think about getting back into dating (it had been so long...) and even though he knew that Gabriel was also interested in men, that didn't necessarily mean mutual attraction. And he wasn't going to make this get together awkward by not being able to keep his fucking gay ass in check.

A knock on the door downstairs brought him out of his thoughts as he grabbed the first pair of jeans and shirt his hands landed on and pulled them off the hangers.

"That must be Lena. Hana, get the door, please," he told her.

She bounced off the bed and zoomed downstairs tiny feet thumping all the way down to the front door. The sound of Lena's bright voice accompanied by Hana's twittering chatter drifted up the stairs as he pulled on his clothes and got closer as Hana pulled the young thirteen year old girl up.

"--And daddy's going on a _date_!" his daughter announced as she threw open his bedroom door, not bothering to ask if he was decent or not as she pulled Lena in by the hand she held.

"It's not a date," he said quickly to keep Hana's babysitter from getting the wrong idea. _Too late_.

"Ooo, Mr. Morrison's finally getting some romance action?" the teen girl wiggled her eyebrows with a grin and he sighed, "But wait, where are you going for your date? You're not wearing _that_ are you?"

"One, it is not a date, and two, we're getting drink down at Athena's," he grumbled, tugging at his worn T-shirt self-consciously, "It's not like I need to dress up."

"It's totally a date," Hana whispered to the older girl; Jack could still hear her clearly though and he wondered when and how she had become aware of what dating even was.

"Now, now, Mr. M, we can't have that!" she helped herself into his closet and started rooting around, "Gotta impress the lucky person, now don'tcha?"

"It's not a date," he insisted tiredly, but it was futile.

Lena let out a little victorious ' _A_ - _ha_!' when she found something suitable and forced a pair of his darker and less ratty jeans and a simple grey button-up on him.

"Almost didn't think ya had anything besides tees!" she giggled as he took the clothes, giving in because he didn't have any other choice if he wanted the girls to leave him alone, "C'mon, Hana dear, let's give your dad some privacy, yeah? Who's he seeing anyway?"

The two of them left his room, giggling as Hana gave her all the juicy news. He had just finished buttoning up the shirt when the doorbell rang; he raced downstairs to answer, but Lena had already gotten there, to his dread.

"...Yeah, and he says he only likes beers, but he's totally into lemon drops actually-"

He grabbed Lena's face from behind and pulled her away from the door, effectively shutting her mouth. Mr. Reyes rose an eyebrow, standing on the doorstep in a comfortable hoodie and beanie.

"Gabriel, hi, sorry about her. This is Lena Oxton, Hana's babysitter."

"Cheers!" she wiggled out of Jack's hold and saluted the teacher.

"Gabriel Reyes," he introduced himself shortly before turning to Jack, "Ready?"

"Yeah. Lena, I think you know where everything is, help yourself to anything in the fridge, Ms. Kim was nice enough to bring some leftovers for us and they're wrapped up there, call me if you have any problems or if anything happens," Jack said as he grabbed his wallet and keys that were by the front door.

"Right-o, Mr. 76!"

"76?" Reyes quirked an eyebrow.

"It's...a bit of a nickname the neighborhood kids have given me," he explained, "Don't worry about it."

"Why 76?"

"Don't worry about," Jack said more firmly, all but pushing Gabriel out the door now, while he grinned and resisted as much as a heavily muscled six-foot-one man could--which is to say a lot, "Look, I'll call you when I'm on my way home, and Hana, be good, ok?"

"Okay!" she chirruped, "Have fun on your date!"

Jack whirled around, shocked, but quickly coloring.

"It's not a date-!"

"See you later!" Gabriel pulled Jack out and closed the door before the man could finish, still grinning madly.

However, he didn't mention anything about what Hana had said, and by the time they made it to the bar where Winston, local genius scientist-turned-trumpet-player-on-weekends, was set up in the corner make-shift stage and playing some upbeat jazz, they had fallen into easy conversation and Jack let himself relax and enjoy the night.

* * *

 

For once, Gabriel did not wake up to ringing phones or attacks from excitable boys that got up earlier than should be decent. No, he was woken when something shifted in his bed, _in his arms_ , and his eyes snapped open. A solid minute after opening his eyes was spent coming to terms with what he saw.

Because holy fucking shit, Jack Morrison was in his bed, in his arms.

Recollections of the night before came back to him as he lay there in bed.

_("Lena? Yeah, she's a bright kid. She is the only babysitter I have ever found that can keep up with Hana's energy and still have some to spare," it was clear that there were many stories with past babysitters in his words, if his reminiscent weary tone were anything to go by._

_"Still not going to tell me what's up with 76 though?" he teased._

_"Not on your life," he smiled and took a sip of his drink to cover it...._

_..."So, how long did you serve?" They were only a few drinks in and both of them seemed to hold their alcohol well, since they were only feeling pleasantly buzzed. Morrison rose an eyebrow at him so he clarified, "Hana brought your medal in for show and tell one day."_

_"Did she? That little monkey, I didn't even know," Jack rubbed his eyes in exasperation, "Okay, yeah. I served fourteen years, in the army."_

_"And got a fucking Medal of Honor?"_

_He shrugged._

_"That's not my life anymore."_

_Gabriel understood. He told him so--he had served as well, Special Forces. Green Berets. Jack had whistled lowly and they traded some stories from their time. Boot camp, training, don't ask, don't tell, what made them leave, they talked for a long time..._

_...Winston had finished playing and packed up for the night, and the bartender had turned on some low music over the speakers to fill the background. They had slowed down on the drinks and were savoring their last ones before they left. He fiddled with the wrapper on his bottle, picking at the condensation-wet paper as he considered. He wasn't nearly drunk enough to be doing this, only slightly tipsy, but he took a breath anyway._

_"You know..." he started, bringing Jack's attention to him from his phone where he was beginning to text Lena that he would be leaving soon, "Lúcio is at his aunt's house for the weekend. And I have a couple of Tecates I need to get rid of."_

_He didn't usually buy that brand, it wasn't to his tastes, but he had somehow ended up with a pack of it in his fridge, and he didn't entirely know how it got there. Maybe some mixup from the teacher party from over the summer. It didn't matter right now._

_It felt like an eternity when Jack's eyes landed on him, blank and considering, not giving anything away. He was tempted to retract the offer and blame it on the alcohol he had had as he internally squirmed under that level gaze, but then he had nodded and turned back to his phone to delete the message and start a new one and Gabriel let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding..._

_...The Tecates went ignored when they had made it to his home. Nothing much had happened--because they silently agreed that it would have been too fast, that it had been a long time for both of them, that they were both a bit awkward about this kind of thing, so it was probably for the best--but damn, something almost did when Jack slipped out of the shirt that had been doing things to Reyes all night when he would glance over and by chance see a tease of the chest that was peeking shyly under the two undone buttons at the top to slip into the extra shirt Gabriel gave him to wear for the night. And, hot damn. Hot **damn** , did Morrison have a body on him. _

_They had fallen into his bed together, feeling weirdly out of place in this new territory, but somehow right, and they had fallen asleep, both too tired to do anything else besides a chaste kiss that had made the whole thing that much more strangely intimate. But Gabriel couldn't say he hated it._

_And he couldn't remember getting a better night's sleep in a long time.)_

And now here he was, silently freaking out over the fact that he had Jack Fucking Morrison in his arms, and apparently he was a cuddler. The man let out some kind of mumble and his arms wrapped tighter around Gabriel as he shifted his head around again, getting comfortable by nudging his face more firmly into his neck as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And Jesus Christ, if it wasn't adorable.

The moment was shattered when the phone rang.

"Shit, shit, shit," he whispered frantically, trying to reach across Morrison to reach the phone and shut it up, because somehow the man hadn't woken up and was still wrapped tightly around him. He managed to grab it by the tips of his fingers and bring it quickly to his ear.

" _Hello, sorry but I'll call you back_ ," he said as quietly as he could, and his mother-in-law would probably yell at him later for hanging up on her without explanation, but he couldn't bring himself to care at that moment. There were important things going on. For instance, Jack waking up. That was very important.

He allowed the phone to drop on the other side of Jack's head as he stirred and his eyes blinked open heavy with morning haze. He spent a couple moments squinting up at Gabriel, but didn't make any move to untangle them, brain still in the process of waking. They stayed like that as the sun started to break through the window, lighting up Jack's golden hair and sleepy eyes in all kinds of poetic ways and shit that Gabe didn't want to think about. Because, wow. He could wake up like that every day, and _that_ was something he didn't want to think about even more. Not yet.

Finally, Jack seemed to gather his thoughts enough to mutter a sleep-roughened, "Hey."

"Hey," he murmured back and tried to ignore whatever his heart was doing. Whatever it was, it needed to quit that.

When they finally got up, he discovered a few things about Jack Morrison. The first and most obvious one being that he was not a morning person. He had tried to leave the room with Gabe right behind him and had run straight into the door. It took a couple minutes of him staring blankly at the wall with a hand on it before he turned to Gabriel and said in a dazed surprised, "This isn't my house."

Gabe laughed and showed him the way to the kitchen, leading. He told himself it was because Morrison didn't know where he was going, but it was either that or follow behind and get a lovely view of the too-tight shirt he had given him and too-loose sweat pants that were hanging off the man's hips. He didn't even seem to notice in his sleepy haze, but either way, Gabriel wasn't ready for that sight, not this early in the morning.

He tried to make conversation, but it stopped when Jack fumbled to put a hand on his shoulder and leveled him a bleary stare.

"Look," he said bluntly, "I will be more than happy to talk, but I'm not awake right now. I need coffee."

"Okay, you sit down and I'll get a pot going," Gabe smiled and nudged him to the couch and he could have sworn with the look Jack was giving him that the man had seen an angel.

He nodded and without warning, threw his arms around Gabriel's neck and pulled him into a clumsy kiss.

"You are beautiful," he said in complete seriousness before he let go and shuffled his way to the couch, fell down on it, and promptly started snoring lightly.

Gabriel stood in the middle of the kitchen, studying the man who was for all intents and purposes dead to the world in shock. He finally shook himself and berated himself to get it together and got on to making the coffee. Feeling restless while it brewed, he fetched his favorite beanie from where he had dropped it on his bed last night and put it on; he didn't know if it was for comfort or to feel like he had some form of cover, but he didn't want to look too deeply into it. But, with nothing else to do, he leaned on the kitchen counter and stared at Jack, still asleep.

Cursing, he pulled the beanie over his eyes.

"Well, fuck," he hissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys cannot tell, the way I am trying to characterize Jack is as one of those people who always looks calm and stern and in control on the outside but his constant mental state is a combination of '????????' and one drawn out panicked scream  
> Lmao, and Gabe is probably one of those people that thinks 'wow?? im? so gay???' constantly. Me too gabe, me too  
> Anywho. Stick around :3c


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took some time off writing this fluffy story to write some quality Angst and Sadness™. You can find it in my works, it's called Soldiering On and On and features the Sad Dads :3  
> But, now back to our regularly scheduled sweet and wholesome goodness. Have some boyfriend clothes and babysitters and other cute stuff

In no time at all, it wasn't odd that their families would get together on the daily, at least for dinner on the weekdays and then sleepovers on the weekends.

"And maybe after the kiddies are asleep, we can have a 'sleepover' for ourselves," Gabriel murmured playfully the first time he had stayed the night after spending the time watching Jack paint Hana's and Lúcio's nails, and even let his own get painted black after prodding from his son.

Their 'sleepover' only got as far as some pretty intense necking on top of Jack's bed before 11:30 rolled around and his door creaked open. Because apparently Hana was absolutely not breaking her habit of crawling into his bed despite having a friend over, much to the mortification of the two adults. "What're you doing?" she mumbled sleepily, rubbing one eye with a tiny fist and dragging her bunny rabbit in the other.

" _Playing Twister_ ," Jack lied in a panic and Gabe wanted to smack him for such a stupid response, and he almost did.

But, the girl was half-asleep and just nodded vaguely in acceptance of the half-assed answer (and for the first time, Gabriel saw some familial resemblance between the father and daughter--completely out of it when they were tired) before wiggling into the bed with them, curling into Jack's side, and falling asleep instantly if the light snores were anything to go by.

"Fucking incredible," Gabe whispered and Jack hissed at him to be quiet.

They still didn't know what this made them at this point. Were they dating? That seemed a little juvenile for what they were doing, and not entirely accurate considering they hadn't gone on any dates, unless you counted the bar, which neither of them did. Were they lovers? No, they hadn't even done anything besides kiss, so that didn't work either. Whatever it was, it felt right without needing to put a label on it, and they still woke up the next morning like they usually did, with Jack being suffocated by heavy dog fur and Gabriel being a trampoline for his son. Except this time Gabriel carried both the morning-energetic children down the stairs as they clung to his neck and kept them entertained while Jack let Bastion out and got his coffee and was finally ready to join the land of the living, Gabriel stealing quick morning kisses from the next-to-unresponsive man while they kids weren't looking until then.

Whatever it was felt natural and welcome and the only thing either of them wondered at was how easily they fell into it.

* * *

 

"Just grab a shirt from the basket. Those are for sleeping."

Tonight was a Reyes household night. They would trade off on whose house the other would come over to every week and Jack might have spared a moment to think that this could not possibly how most relationships went; but then again, he reflected, most relationships probably didn't involve two single fathers with kids, and he had never had a solid relationship in his adult life, so what did he know. Whatever his thoughts on the matter, they vanished as he stepped through the front door with his bag and Hana's pink overnight bag in hand and the tantalizing smell of fish and coriander hit him.

He would never forget the first time he had dinner with Reyes and his son, where Gabriel was the chef. It had been a truly delicious meal, but Gabriel, wanting to show off his expertise perhaps, had pulled out all the stops and made a decadent dish...which later gave Jack food poisoning from the shear amount of spices that was in it. He had spent that night bent over the Oval Office attached to the master bedroom, Gabriel providing soothing encouragement and brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead in between laughing his fucking ass off. He had laid off some on the spices since, but he was a damn good cook and Jack could never get enough of his home-cooked meals.

After a heavenly dinner of _moqueca_ , they tucked Hana and Lúcio in and got ready for bed themselves. Jack rummaged around in the basket tucked into Gabe's closet; having misplaced his shirt for the night and not packing it, he needed to borrow one of the teacher's.

"What is this?" he pulled out a shirt that had an artistically faded spider with what looked to be a lightning bolt on it, "Looks familiar. Isn't it some band or something?"

"My Chemical Romance, obviously," Gabriel rolled his eyes and snatched it away, pulling it on for himself; he noticed Jack staring at him silently and he snapped, "What."

"You emo piece of shit, you're into _those_ kinds of bands?"

"Fuck _off_ , Morrison," he snarled, throwing a random sock at his head, "My bands are cool."

If anything, that just made him laugh harder, and that simply wouldn't do--because you don't just _laugh_ at Gabriel Reyes or his shitty musical tastes--so of course he tackled him onto the bed as punishment. A few chuckles managed to slip out, but he was successful for the most part in smothering the laughs with his own mouth. He also made a note to pay him back the mockery any chance he got.

* * *

 

"Noooo no! How do you keep winning!?"

Jack came home to shrieks coming from the TV room. There he found Lena and Hana, facing off in a battle of Super Smash Bros. on the old Nintendo 64 that had belonged to his sister. She had always been a big fan of video games, Jack remembered, and it seemed her daughter had taken after her admirably in that regard, if her being a decently respectable gamer by the age of five was anything to go by. Any time Lena got drawn into playing against her, the teen would lose spectacularly and vow never to go against her again. (She always did anyway though.)

"What're you girls up to?" he asked, setting grocery bags on the counter as Lena groaned and tossed her controller to the side and Hana cheered.

"Ughh, getting absolutely massacred, apparently," she bemoaned her loss, slumping over in defeat, "Are you secretly training Hana to be a gaming freak, Mr. M? I can't get a single win!"

"Sounds like you just need to 'get good'," he chuckled, putting away the banana milk that Hana liked from the specialty store and Lena let out another exasperated groan, this time directed at him.

"Please, don't ever say that again, Mr. 76, it is so cringey coming from you."

"What? I know some gamer lingo."

"Oh my god, _stop_."

"Whatever," he huffed, "Thanks for looking after Hana while I was at work. Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"Sure thing!" she immediately chippered up and hauled Hana up to carry her over to the dining table while the girl giggled.

"How's high school treating you?" he asked, shuffling around the kitchen to get a simple meal together.

Lena had just started this year as a freshman at Overwatch High. She had joined the track team in the summer and had kicked off her high school career as quite the popular firecracker that hardly ever stopped burning up with energy. She prattled off about her classes and all the new people she had met that came from the other junior high schools, especially a really pretty girl named Amélie who was on the dance team.

"Sounds almost like you have a crush on her," Jack couldn't resist teasing the teen, but if her red face and sudden stammer was anything to go by, maybe he hadn't been too far from hitting the nail on the head.

"Wait," Hana butted her way into the conversation, "Can girls have crushes on girls?"

"Uh," Lena floundered for a moment and looked to Jack as if asking for what to do; he nodded encouragingly and she sagged in relief slightly, "Yeah, love, suppose they can."

"That's cool! _Wait!_ " her small hands slammed down on the table, startling the other two, "Does that mean boys can have crushes on boys too?!"

"Er, don't see why not," said Lena, and Jack was about to scold Hana for slapping the table, but she turned to him to with a huge grin.

"Do you have a crush on Mr. Reyes then, Dad?!"

Lena of course started laughing immediately at the face Morrison made and he had half a mind to cuff her on the back of the head.

"Why do you think they went on that date, Han?"

"It wasn't a date," Jack said just as Hana exclaimed, "What?! That's why people go on dates? I thought dates just meant you dress up nice and go eat food."

"Alright, end of conversation. Lena, come get your money and go home," said Jack, pulling the plates over to the sink and officially ending lunch.

"You're dad's pretty shy. I bet you he has a _super_ huge crush on Mr. Reyes," he heard Lena whisper to Hana and chose to forcefully ignore it despite the heat on his ears.

* * *

 

"Jack."

He gave a hum of response as he dug around in the ice box in the small garage connected to the side of his house. They had put on a college football game, which of course called for a couple beers he kept out of the main fridge, away from where Hana might find them. Gabriel had followed him out to the garage to see, and had been given the chance to peer around at the space cluttered with boxes, tools, dusty camping supplies, something with a tarp over it in the corner, and other odds and ends. One of which caught his eye.

" _Jack_."

Gabriel's voice finally made him turn around, two beers in each hand, and to his horror, he saw the teacher had found his nick-namesake for the neighborhood kids. His red, white, and blue, very flashy namesake with a big '76' emblazoned on the back. He sighed, steeling himself for what came next.

"Okay, listen."

"Are you shitting me?" Gabriel cracked up laughing, holding up the jacket he had found tossed over his work bench haphazardly, "What is this gaudy American-Flag-Biker nightmare!"

"It was the only one the store I went to had-"

"What store? Sturgis Uncle Sam?" he hooted, pulling the leather jacket up to see it again before he fell back into laughter.

" _Look_ , asshole, it was the only one, and I didn't want to buy another, do you know how expensive these kinds of jackets are-"

He couldn't be heard any further over Gabriel's howls of laughter.

"Jesus. _Jesus_ ," he crowed, "No wonder you have that nickname, _god_. Put it on, put it on, lemme get a load of this. I need to see you in this tacky thing."

He grumbled but accepted the jacket Gabriel pushed onto him, setting down the beers and pulling it on. He held out his hands and raised an eyebrow, asking if it was good enough for him, but Gabriel wasn't done.

"Well, look at your star-spangled ass," he whistled, almost not being able to because of his laughter, "Though I do admit it looks better from the front. What the hell is up with the giant 76?"

"I told you, it was the only one the shop I went to had," Jack grumbled, letting himself be pulled forward by the hands on either side of the jacket's opening, until he was between Gabriel's legs as he leaned against the work table, "They didn't have anything else that fit my shoulders, so I had to settle for looking like the Fourth of July took a shit on me."

"Atrocious colors aside," Gabriel's eyes twinkled with mirth as his hands settled on Jack's hips under the jacket, "It does look very trim on you. I'm a bit surprised you could find something like this without it being custom-made. That's what I had to do for mine, so it would fit right."

"You have a motorcycle jacket? You ride?"

"I do. And my jacket's black, like a normal fucking person would have."

Jack leaned in, hands pressing onto the table around Gabriel and the teacher craned his neck up eagerly to meet him. He was met with a chilled bottle of beer on his neck and he jolted from the shock of cold, slamming a hand over the affected area.

"Yeah, well, not all of us have our own personal tailors. Now come and watch the game," Jack slipped out from between his thighs and hurried for the door, cracking open one of his beers with his bare hand and tossing a smirk over his shoulder to the indignant man.

" _Morrison!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, question of the day: what music do you guys like? Discuss.  
> Anyway, I know nothing about american college football, but it's a Big Deal I guess??? Idk, but stick around :3c


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slides in wearing fluffy pink slippers*  
> Why hello. Are you guys ready for some...*poses dramatically with foot propped on wall*  
> Feels?

At some point, Jack and Gabriel ended up with thirteen children.

Not exactly, but they might as well have been the fathers to the ragtag bunch of kids they acquired over the years. It had started with Lena and Amélie, and then Gabe took Jesse under his wing and it was all down hill from there, until it wasn't strange to see the men at various sporting events, competitions, or to have the kids in and out of their houses on any given day of the week.

They all had there favorites, too. Lena, Mei, Aleksandra, Mako, and Hanzo generally preferred Jack while Gabe had the favor of Amélie, Genji, Jesse, Jamie, and Fareeha (although she did love Jack too; Gabe was simply, in her eyes, 'cooler' and that was all there was to it). And they all had their stories about how they came to be part of the family. Some were simple: for instance, Jack had picked up Zarya at the gym when he had finally decided to use a one month free membership card he had gotten, and she had been impressed with his weight-lifting, demanded that he show her the ways, and that was that. Others came about through children they already had: for example, Hanzo had been suspicious when his younger brother Genji suddenly began spending much time away from home and investigated, only to find him at Gabriel's house, locked in intense combat of Mario Kart with Hana and Lúcio, and he somehow found himself joining when Gabe got home and asked him what the fuck he was doing looking into his window like a creeper. Others were...well. Some others were like Jesse.

Gabriel could still remember how it was that he first met the kid. It hadn't been pretty. He had been seeing Jack for about a year now; both Lúcio and Hana were in the first grade and positively the worst little menaces to their teachers with their wit and energy, especially Hana. Life was pretty good, he had to admit. Busy, but still pretty good.

"You did _what_?" he snarled at Principal Adawe when she told him.

"Reyes," she sighed tiredly, but he didn't care that this was probably stressful enough for her already, "Look, I'm sorry, but I thought it would be the best way to deal with things."

"By letting a gang member come and do his community service in _my classroom?!_ _Where there are **children**?!_ " he thundered, slamming his hand down on the receptionist's desk and rattling the tin of pens and pencils there; she winced.

"Gabe, I really am sorry about this," Adawe almost pleaded with him, "The kid has proven to be...difficult, and I thought you would be the best one to handle him."

He took a whistling breath through his nostrils and tried to calm himself.

"You can put him in the hallway and have him sharpen pencils for all I care," she suggested, "He doesn't even need to interact with the children, but this is the service option he chose, so we have to take him."

He let out his breath in a forceful sigh.

"If I so much as see him with a butter knife or even looking at the kids funny, he's gone."

"Done," she nodded firmly, and with that, showed him into her office where the object of the arguement sat, hunched over in the chair.

His unkempt head snapped up when the door opened, and when Gabriel finally got a full look at him, he was startled. Messy brown hair and a thin, gaunt face, with dirty, baggy clothes falling over a gangly body, but it wasn't just his appearance that had Gabriel shaken.

This kid was _young_.

He still had some baby chub on his cheeks despite looking underfed, and his skin had a smattering of acne over it--he couldn't possibly be older than Amélie, the girl from across the street that had only just started highschool last year. He looked awkward in the seat before Adawe's desk, shuffling his feet, and scared and so young Gabriel didn't know what to do.

"Mr. McCree," the principal said, slipping into her 'diplomatic' voice, "This is Mr. Reyes, he is the teacher you'll be assisting for you community service."

The kid looked him up and down.

"You a teacher?" he drawled, some country accent putting a twang in his speech, "You look more a thug n' I do."

Adawe hadn't been able to stop him in time when his hand snapped out and grabbed a fistful of the kid's dirty shirt and dragged him violently to his feet. Young or not, this kid's attitude rubbed him the wrong way and he needed to learn some things if he was going to be working with Reyes, and he needed to learn them quick.

"Listen up, you little brat," Gabriel hissed at him and he saw the fear in the kid's face come back full force, "You are **hardly** in my good graces and I have no reserves about kicking you out from this little charity act the moment you fuck up. So don't get smart with me and you better show some respect."

And that was how Jesse McCree became Gabriel Reyes' assistant.

* * *

 

It was only during the breaks when the kids were outside that Jesse was allowed to come into the classroom. For the rest of the time, he was always out in the hallway, doing the most mundane crap: sharpening pencils, testing markers to see which ones had gone dry, organizing papers, or simply sleeping if Gabriel had nothing else for him to do.

Reyes didn't talk to him much during the break, just sat at his desk going through papers, sometimes taking calls, if he wasn't on duty to watch the kids outside. One day though, he wasn't alone when the teen stepped inside.

"-And I read a book all by myself today!" a small boy that was crawling onto his lap said proudly, a smaller girl right next to him and hugging the man's knees.

"I read two!" she boasted.

"Did not!" the boy said, "You only looked at the pictures, that doesn't count."

"What are you two doing in this area? Shouldn't you be back on the main playground?" the teacher sighed, lifting the girl onto his lap as well so he had a child on each knee.

"We snuck away," the boy said and the girl smacked him.

"Shh! You weren't supposed to tell him, Lúcio," she hissed.

Jesse cleared his throat and Reyes looked up, eyes narrowing as the kids considered him curiously.

"Who's that, Dad?"

"That's Jesse," the teacher explained, tone carefully bland, "He helps me now. But he's not so smart, so you shouldn't talk to him or you'll become dumb too."

The kids giggled and he ignored the jab at him, telling himself he didn't care. Reyes was a dick, that was all.

"Got anything for me to do, boss?" he asked in a purposefully bored voice.

"No. Go sit in the corner and read until the kids get back or something."

He shrugged and ambled over to the back desk where he kicked up his feet and laid a book over his eyes, in an imitation of sleeping. He closed his eyes and tried to actually catch a short nap, but it was hard with the two children chattering away. It was a little surprising to see hard-ass Reyes handling these kids and letting them fill his usually peaceful break with racket. Sure, he dealt with the kindergartners on the daily, but with his own children, he seemed impossibly patient and caring. He let them ramble on and tell him about anything that came to their young minds as he worked and they sat on his lap, until it was time for them to go.

"Alright, get out of here, you little trouble-makers," he lightly swatted their behinds and waved them out of his class, but got distracted by the ringing phone.

Jesse startled when he felt a small hand patting his knee. He pushed up the book over his face to see two pairs of curious eyes looking up at him--Reyes' kids had come over to him before they left. The girl held out a bag of apple slices cut to look like rabbits.

"My daddy says that healthy food makes you smart," she whispered secretly, trying not to draw Mr. Reyes' attention to them in the corner; the boy nodded his head eagerly in agreement, "Get smarter, OK?"

Jesse silently accepted the apples that were pressed into his hands, not knowing what to say as the two kids ran out. He tucked them under his shirt as he retreated back into the hallway and spent a long time staring at them before he started to nibble on them slowly.

* * *

 

The next time Jesse came in for the break and Mr. Reyes wasn't alone, it was another man that was in the room. He stood on a short ladder, fixing the part of the ceiling in the classroom that had fallen out earlier that day while Reyes complained to him.

"...And with the stupid budget cuts, they can't even spare a freaking repair guy to come and fix the freaking ceiling that almost fell on a kid, those god damn stuck up bastards. God, some days I just want to go and wring their necks. How can they possibly think that this is okay? It's a safety hazard for crying out loud."

Jesse stood for a moment there in the doorway, frozen. The man on the ladder was turned away from him, humming in acknowledgement every once in a while to Mr. Reyes as he ranted on and on about the school board and government and anyone else he thought deserved a good foot or two up the ass. Worn jeans and a simple T-shirt that rode up his lower back and stretched tight over broad shoulders as he reached up...Jesse had to take a moment to collect himself, because _damn_. If there was ever a staircase to heaven, he was pretty sure he'd found it.

"Hm, well, that should be secure for now," he said, giving the ceiling a poke before turning around and leaning on the steps while he wiped his hand on a handkerchief, and if Jesse had thought his back was gorgeous, his face was angelic, golden halo of hair and everything, "But I'd like to look at the whole thing when you go on Thanksgiving break. You're right, that's simply not safe for the kids. Oh."

He had noticed Jesse standing in the door, slack-faced and stupid. A flash of concern crossed his face as he stepped down and set his tools to the side.

"You alright there, son?"

Jesse stood there gaping like a drowning fish, stammering and unable to reply, but fortunately, he didn't have a chance to make a fool of himself any longer as Mr. Reyes shoved a paper uncermoniously into his arms.

"Kid, go make some copies of this. Scanner and printer are down the hall."

He took the escape, fleeing the room like a startled, red-faced rabbit. It only occurred to him when he reached the printer that he didn't know how many copies the teacher needed. He trotted back to the room, but paused outside of the door that hung slightly ajar when he heard the two men talking still--a force of habit.

"...Damn brat, that's the first time I've seen him speechless," he heard Gabriel growl.

"...Is he...?"

"Yeah, the juvie kid. Adawe foisted him onto me because she thought I would be able to keep him in line."

"...He seems extremely young," he heard the other man say, his tone clearly waiting for explanation and Mr. Reyes sighed.

"Extremely fucking young, Jack, so fucking young. I try to keep that in mind, I really do," he bit out another sigh, "But, _geez_ , the kid makes it so hard not to lose patience. He hasn't done anything since he got here, but I can't help but remember when gang memebers used to hang around outside some of the elementary schools in my neighborhood, trying to recruit kids, Jack, _kids_.I try to think that he was probably one of those children, got mixed with the wrong people or made some wrong choices, but he's so goddamn mouthy I want to smack him half the time."

"Do you think he's a danger to the children here?" 'Jack' asked, not sounding so much concerned than as if he wanted to know Mr. Reyes' thoughts.

"No," Reyes sounded deflated, "The kid's trying, despite his sarcasm. He's smart, he's got a good head on his shoulders, and he could probably do whatever he put his mind to, if he put the effort in or gave enough of a shit to try."

"Well, maybe you can help him? It sounds like he could use some guidance," the man suggested, earning only a grunt.

Jesse thought it would be safe to enter now that the conversation had died down, and he opened the door all the way to walk in, raising his eyes--

To see Mr. Reyes had the blond man trapped against his desk and that they were joined mouth-to-mouth in a passionate kiss that had Jesse blushing to the roots of his hair. His grip on the paper Reyes had given him loosened and it dropped to the floor, alerting the men to his presence with the fluttering sound as it fell. Reyes' head whipped over to him, glowering, and he snapped.

" _What_."

"You-uh, uh, uhm, didn't-- _Idon'tknowhowmanycopiestomake_ ," he stuttered out in a rush, as Jack nudged Mr. Reyes away so he could stand, a bit of pink singeing his ears though his face remained stern.

"Twenty."

Reyes barely had to bark the word before he scampered out of the room, even more hurriedly and red-faced than before.

* * *

 

Slowly, things changed. Jesse was allowed to work with the kids on arts and crafts days, which was an interesting experience, because they did not give a single fuck about anything. He was drawn into worlds that revolved around insects and crayons and Pokémon cards and jumpropes, such small things but so important to these young, unabashed lives. Other times, if Reyes didn't have much work for him for the day, he would bring him books or puzzles so he could entertain himself, always using the excuse that 'he had them lying around' and they 'weren't being used and he didn't want them to go to waste'; he knew this was a lie though, when one time Reyes handed off a pristine copy of 'All the Pretty Horses' to him and its spine had not even cracked with its first opening, meaning it was new.

He met friends. Real, honest-to-goodness friends, all through Reyes: the friendly Mr. Wilhelm who ran the daycare, the wickedly smart if somewhat socially awkward Winston that came in every other Friday to teach the kids music if he didn't get sidetracked trying to teach them about DNA, and then kids that were his own age like Lena, Fareeha, Angela, and Amélie. It was a first time thing for him, having these kinds of people in his life, and he was scared by it but tentatively opened up to them.

He got to know Reyes' family. He learned that while Lúcio, that energetic little boy, was actually his son, Hana belonged to Jack, or Mr. Morrison as he had later been told to call him. And even though they had aggresively avoided his questions on if they were dating or something--which was a little strange to him; he was vaguely aware that there were men out there who saw other men, but he had never...seen it with his own eyes before--there would be moments that they slipped into that, to Jesse, made them seem like the closest thing to a family he had never known. And it left him wanting to be a part of it.

Things were slow, and then before he knew it, his case was settled, he was moving in with Angela whose mother, Dr. Ziegler, had agreed to take him in, and he was being enrolled in the local highschool. It was like a dream, and everything felt surreal to him as he fell into a normal life.

They celebrated his first day back to formal education by inviting him to dinner--it was a Morrison household night, and although he had found that Jack was not as proficient a chef as Gabriel, he was a master of making simple yet heavenly delicious meals. Like the chili and cornbread they were having that night, made from scratch, which he had heard Mr. Reyes swear by before.

It hit him in the middle of dinner, where Lúcio and Hana provided most of the conversation and Jesse had his first bite of the most delectable bread he would ever have, and hit him hard. Jack was the first to notice the hot and silent tears streaming down his face as he ate quietly, and immediately persuaded Hana and Lucio to come with him for Bastion's evening walk, even if they questioned why they were leaving in the middle of eating.

"What's the matter, Jesse?" Gabriel asked, kneeling by his chair and rubbing soothing circles on his back, "Can you tell me?"

"I'm just--" he sobbed into his hands, "I'm just real happy s'all."

"Aw, kiddo," Gabe said softly, pulling him into a hug, "It's okay. It's okay, you can cry."

That made him cry harder, breaking down and fiercely returning the hug, burying his face into Gabriel's favorite soft and worn hoodie as his eyes and nose leaked disgustingly. But, rather than push him away, Reyes let him stay there despite the disgusting mess of snot and tears.

"Is-Is this what a family feels like?" he hiccuped when he calmed down some after quiet words of reassurance from the older man who never stopped the soothing circles.

"It can be if you want," he said simply, but he truly meant it and Jesse nodded.

"I think I'd like that," he said shyly into the warm fabric of the sweater.

"Alright then."

When the tears finally subsided and the three returned from their walk, they laughed and watched an old western movie--Jesse's pick, of course--while enjoying dessert, a delicious homemade peach ice cream, made with fruit that grew in Jack's own backyard, until Jesse finally had to go home, something he could now say with pride.

And that was how Jesse became part of their family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm jazzjnkr on tumblr dot com :3c


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! So, I feel like I should make it clear that the last chapter was a little flash-forward snippet, which I'll be adding in every so often. For now, we're back on the main timeline. Enjoy!! :3

When neither Jack nor Gabriel had work to do on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday became workout days. Sure, Jack's job as a general handyman/plumber/construction worker kept him from getting soft after he left the military, but he could admit that keeping up with his physical activity would be good, and Gabriel tempted him into going running with him, something that quickly became a morning habit when they could spare some time. It soon evolved to include other exercises, such as: the fathers doing sets of pushups while Hana sat on Morrison's back and Lúcio sat on his father's. The two kids giggled incessantly as the men puffed through the reps, both trying to one up each other. They would both admit, if grudgingly, that the both of them had a competitive streak, something that got them into petty arguments at times.

"What'sa matter, Jackie?" Reyes shot him a smirk, a light sheen of sweat on his face, "You look a little strained there."

"Speak for yourself, Gabe, I could do this all day," he shot back, pushing himself up with only the slightest struggle.

It finally ended as a tie when both of them couldn't support themselves up on their arms and collapsed to the floor at the same time. Their children patted their faces in concern as the adults lay wheezing on the floor, and Bastion thought to help Jack by coming and sitting on top of him. It did not help.

"Maybe we should think about going to an actual gym," Gabriel said as they began on situps, "Stuff like this is easy anywhere, but equipment and weights, and I dunno, maybe a bar for pull ups or something would be nice."

"You don't need a bar for pull ups," Jack told him.

"What?"

"You just use a door."

" _What_."

Jack halted mid-situp, rolled to his feet, and walked to the closest door way. He reached up and latched onto the frame before easily pulling himself up while Gabriel watched. Smirking, he rose an eyebrow at him as if to say ' _See?_ '.

"Alright, but I'm pretty sure you can't bench press a door, so a gym would still be nice," he huffed while Jack continued, "OK, showoff, how are you so good at that? Doesn't it hurt your fingers?"

"Aw, man, are you telling me you're not?" asked Jack with a small chuckle, "This was basic haze material back in boot camp days. Guys would ask the newbies if they wanted to 'hang out' and then, they would tell the newbies to hang off the door frame for however long they wanted. I got very good at it."

Gabriel laughed along with him: that sounded exactly like the kind of shit that happened at boot camp. He had his fair share of stories like that himself.

"Daddy!" Hana said, bouncing up to him and tugging at his leg, "Up!"

"Uhh, I dunno, bunny, it's been a while," Jack balked, "And you're a little bigger now, I don't think I can-"

"Up!" Jack sighed and let go of the door, giving his arms a break momentarily, before dipping down to let Hana wrap her arms around his neck. Gabriel watched with amazement as he reached back up and pulled himself off the ground before crossing his legs midair to give the little girl a seat. She wiggled into his lap delightedly and Gabriel whipped out his phone as Jack began to pull himself up, with much more difficulty, but still managed to do it.

"Hold on, I hafta Instagram this," Gabriel said, getting the video camera ready.

"Isn't Instagram for middle-aged white moms--wait, why are you taking pictures of me?" Jack puffed with exertion.

"'Cause everyone gotta see how good my man is. Keep, going, honey-buns."

"Oh my god," said Jack weakly.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" Lúcio exclaimed, looking up at him with starry eyes, "Can I have a turn?"

"Uhhhhhh," Jack didn't want to say no, especially with the puppy eyes the young boy was giving him--god damn, Gabriel must have had the will power of a mountain to not give in to those eyes--but Hana was scrambling out of his lap already, so he figured he could muster up the strength for one or two more lifts. Reyes helped his son into Jack's lap and Lucio cheered as if he was on an amusement ride.

He later uploaded the video to his Instagram (death_blossom) with the caption "work out day with the bae". When he showed it to Jack, the man asked what a 'bae' was, and he kinda wanted to smack him for being so uncultured, but instead, he just said "Don't worry about it" and left it at that.

* * *

 

When Jack stepped into Reyes' classroom to drop Hana off that morning, he nearly thought that he was still sleeping and had stepped into some weird dream.

"What on earth-?"

"This. Is. Awesome!" Hana cried, taking in the decorations that covered the entire classroom: Gothic-looking candle holders, fake spider webs, plastic skulls, it was like walking into a Halloween specialty store. Except Jack was 80% sure this was Gabriel's classroom.

"Good morning, Hana," the teacher himself was wearing a tie with jack-o-lanterns on it, and now Jack was seriously questioning if he knew what day it was, because he had _thought_ it was the beginning of October, and he was trying to figure out how he had missed an entire month.

"What's with all the spooky stuff, Mr. Reyes?" Hana asked, giving Jack's legs a quick hug before taking her seat, "It's so cool!"

"It's the start of October," Reyes explained, "Best month of the year, of course. I do this every year to get into the spirit of things."

"You know Halloween is still four weeks away, right?" Jack had to ask.

"Don't rain on my parade, Morrison," Gabe poked him in the side and making him jolt with an indignant noise, "If white people can start celebrating Christmas in September, I think I can celebrate Halloween in its proper month."

He held up his hands appeasingly, and threw another look around the classroom with a small smile: of course Gabriel's favorite holiday would be Halloween. It seemed very fitting.

"Are you working on Saturday?" the teacher asked him lowly as some other parents and children entered and had much the same reaction that Hana and Jack did, "We should grab some coffee."

Jack paused for a moment. Was Reyes asking him on an actual date? Sure, friends went and got coffee all the time, but they were not just friends. Would this be their first official date? Oh my god, this would be their first official date.

All this he processed very quickly, and although his mind was frantically thinking about what this meant for them, he gave a short nod, bringing that small smile out of Gabriel that made his thoughts even more hectic.

"Good. It's a date then. Have a good day."

He didn't let him reply as he went to greet the newly arrived kids and their parents, leaving Jack staring after him, astounded. It wasn't until a child running past him jostled his leg that he finally pulled himself together, waved to Hana and took his leave.

* * *

 

"Are you sure you do not need me, Mr. Reyes? Don't you trust me to watch Lucio?"

"Yes I am sure, yes I do, but I already told you: I'm dropping him off at Morrison's house and his babysitter will be looking after his kid and Lú ," Reyes said to the teen girl sitting on his couch while he groomed his hair in the hallway mirror; Amélie always nagged him about his hair--because why go through the trouble of styling it only to cover it with that "hideous ratty beanie"--but this time she remained silent, which was odd. She also wasn't criticizing his fashion, which was something she did on the daily, and that was _really_ odd. He sent her a suspicious glance through the mirror, "Why do you care? I always have to bribe you to even consider babysitting him."

The teen girl shrugged nonchalantly.

"I have a boyfriend now. I'm trying to save up money for dates."

Now he turned around so he could level her the full force of his suspicious gaze.

"You're thirteen."

"Your point?"

Amélie had an uncanny way of raising her eyebrow just so that made her look supremely derisive, an expression she had perfected over the years Gabriel had known the young girl. He had seen fully grown men crumble under that stare, but he had been subjected to it enough that it didn't effect him anymore. At least, not much.

He shrugged off her haughty stare and went back to smoothing out his appearance. He met Amélie four years ago when she and her family moved in across the street. What made them choose to move to that specific microscopic town from France was a mystery, even more than the fact that they somehow thought they needed to bring cookies over and introduce themselves and their perfect daughter to all their new neighbors, thinking it was some American tradition. At first, he only saw her as a perfectly groomed child, always wearing pink, hair pulled into a tight bun when her mother drove her to ballet practice. It wasn't until he caught her looking over his motorcycle one day that he began to know more about her: that the princess-like girl actually liked bugs, especially spiders, enjoyed playing army with the tiny toy soldiers one-year-old Lucio was happy to ignore, and loved fighting and action movies.

None of which her parents knew about, and so, somehow, someway, Gabriel's home became a place that she could secretly indulge these things, and before long he had developed something of a paternal relationship with the girl, although he would never admit it. No, not paternal, he hated to think of it like that--if they were anything, he was a cranky uncle that let his standoffish, bratty niece visit, but only because she looked after his son and was a convenient babysitter when he was busy.

However much they complained about each other though, neither could deny that there was definitely a very special bond between them, because Gabe was usually the first person Amélie talked to about problems: in school, the pressures she was under in her dance class, even when she got her first period and came to him in tears because she didn't know what to do.

He turned around once he considered himself decent enough and waved a hand to himself, silently asking for her opinion.

"Your beanie is stupid," she sniffed, but since she didn't comment on the rest of his outfit of black jeans and a dark red Henley, he figured he looked presentable for his date with Jack.

Fucking hell. His date with Jack.

He had been meaning to ask for a while, but hadn't worked up the nerve--which was stupid because he was a grown ass man and shouldn't have been flustered by dates. And yet, his dumb heart still caught in his throat when he had finally asked, and it still skipped a beat when he had agreed, and it still went into overdrive afterwards. He had been tempted that day to leave school in the middle of day and see Dr. Ziegler to see if he had experienced a heart attack, but he knew it was just because he was hopelessly stupid for the stern man that had fallen into his life.

"I better meet this 'boyfriend' soon, and if he's not worthy, he gets the boot immediately," he said, grabbing his wallet and keys.

"Sure."

* * *

 

"Jesus Christ."

"What."

" _Gabe_."

" _What_."

Jack stared with a mixture of bemusement and amusement at Gabriel's order at the local coffee and tea house run by Gabriel's friend, Ana, a stately woman and veteran that could make the most heavenly cups of joe. Apparently, Gabriel's appreciation of Halloween extended to all things fall related and had ordered a pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin scone from the display.

"Seriously?"

"Screw you, OK? Pumpkin spice is delicious and it only comes around once a year, so don't give me that," he snapped at Jack.

"Still, isn't that a little much?"

"No," Gabriel said petulantly.

Jack looked like he wanted to say more, but he just shook his head with a little smile and let it rest.

"So, are you and Hana doing anything for Halloween?" he asked, taking an aggressive bite of his pumpkin scone, _which was delicious, so fuck you Morrison_.

"I think I'll let her go trick-or-treating this year," Jack said, letting out an appreciative hum after taking a sip of his coffee, "I think she's old enough now. I'll go to keep an eye on her though. How about you guys?"

"Lúcio, too," he chuckled, "I used to carry him and walk with Ana and her daughter, but Fareeha has her own friends to go with this year. Maybe we should go with our kids."

"That'd be great," smiled Jack, before his grin faltered, "Oh no, but I have no idea what costume Hana would like."

"Wellllll," Gabriel pulled out his phone and brought up some pictures, "I was browsing the other day...and I found a few costumes that would be good, and I stumbled across one that made me think of Hana."

He showed Jack the frog and bunny onesie costumes for children he had found on the Internet, hoping that he would like them. Jack stared for a long moment before he looked at Gabriel.

"Those are fucking adorable, we're getting them."

"Right? Our kids are going to be the cutest damn things in the whole town," he mentally patted himself on the back as they high-fived over the table. And now, there was just one more thing.

He idled, putting away his phone and taking a long sip of his latte while he thought about how to bring it up. Finally, he decided it would be best just to go for it.

"So, I was thinking," he started, "We celebrate the Days of the Dead, on Halloween, November 1st and 2nd. Do you and Hana want to join us on the second?"

Jack's eyebrows lifted momentarily in surprise before they came back down thoughtfully.

"Uh, I thought that was for families exclusively. You wouldn't mind us intruding?"

"It is," Gabriel shrugged, "But it's very much a community thing as well. I wouldn't be asking if I minded, idiot."

"What exactly do you do?" he asked curiously, "I know it's a celebration that happens, but I never knew the specifics."

"It depends where you go," Gabriel explained, "Some cities have big flashy parades and parties through the streets, but the community here is nice. A few of the cemeteries here are very welcoming to the tradition and stay open the whole night on November 2nd, and families go to decorate the graves and celebrate their deceased loved ones. The one me and Lúcio visit is the church's where his mom is and there's usually a lot of families with us. The church sets up an alter for those that don't have people buried there as well."

"Are you sure? I still don't know the customs or traditions, or if I should bring anything-?" he fretted, but Gabriel grabbed his hand that was resting on the table and pulled it over to him to give it a peck, silencing him.

"Trust me, I'm sure. And don't worry, I can show you. I would like to have you there, Jack, both of you."

Jack nodded silently, but Gabriel reveled victoriously in his slightly widened eyes and the flush fanning across his cheeks. They stayed there until Ana kicked them out, and enjoyed walking back through the streets of their small city hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS OCTOOOOOOBER!!!!! HELL YEAAAAAAAH  
> Ok, so you totes know Gabi is the type to get really, and I mean REALLY, into Halloween. Do you guys have any plans this year?  
> Anywho! Stick around :3c


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